Greetings,
I believe April Fool’s Day came early this year and we missed it. We have decided to cease grooming for this season, not from lack of snow but due to the warm weather. The long range forecast is calling for above normal weather continuing for the next two weeks with a small cold front blowing through Monday and Tuesday of next week. The “No Dog” signs will be pulled from Sibley this weekend since we have not groomed in two weeks. Even though we may be done grooming, we still have a lot of work to do. We need to pull the blue stakes, haul some bridge timbers up the mountain and skid them up to the small gully just past junction B on the main trail. Dig out some timbers currently buried under the snow up at Dead Horse Park and drag to the creek crossing above the Hut on the Prune Creek trail, all to be installed this summer. I would also like to take out some low hanging limbs; with all the snow on the trails it makes them easier to reach. After that we need to bring down the snowmachines, (one of which needs some extensive repair work) and put all the grooming equipment inside the trailers so when the snow melts we can bring the trailers down. If we do get some snow and cooler weather before we are done wrapping up we could do some grooming and if so I will let you know.
It has been a very good ski season. We had good snow that fell in early October that gave us a good base but also bent over hundreds of pine trees into the trail. There was only one week from when we first started the trail packing 11/20/2011 to the last grooming 3/2/2011 that we didn’t receive some new snowfall. In total, we spent 23 days and about 350 volunteer hours grooming. ( I don’t have the exact hour total at this time) We have had a couple new people help with the grooming this year which is good, and I hope we can find a couple more people to help in the future. The old horses are getting tired and we need to keep the herd fresh.
Again, Thank You all for your generous support this season. Your support is important more now than ever, since the grant program we have used in the past to help with equipment purchases is no longer funding equipment. We have incurred a lot of repair expense this season and I would also like to see the club be able to upgrade some of the older snowmobiles we are currently using. Your dues and donations are very much needed and appreciated!
Happy trails,
Curt